Chapter 12 — Unprocessed Photos

Spring Festival Day came faster than Bao Nghi imagined. Tran Phu schoolyard, usually quiet with rows of trees and neat rows of classrooms, that day turned into a colorful space - flags were spread everywhere, food stalls emitted a delicious aroma, folk music rang out from large speakers placed in the middle of the yard, and a stream of students, parents, and guests were bustling back and forth from early morning.

Bao Nghi arrived at seven o'clock in the morning, camera ready around his neck, a crossbody bag containing extra lenses and spare batteries. She stood in a corner of the yard, observing the flow of people, clearly feeling her heart rate increase because of nervousness - but this time, that nervousness had a different tone than the familiar fear, closer to the feeling of an adventure than a threat.

"Ready?" Minh Khang appeared next to him, also fully equipped with machines, his face shining with undisguised excitement.

"Ready," Bao Nghi replied, taking a deep breath.

The morning passed in a bustling pace. They moved around the schoolyard, capturing scattered moments - a group of students laughing loudly while playing a tug-of-war game, a child following his parents to the festival, eyes wide in front of a stall of colorful paper lanterns, two older teachers sitting next to each other enjoying a bowl of tea in the shade, still holding a fan in their hands.

At noon, when the two took a break under the shade of a tree to quickly eat the bread they brought with them, a small incident occurred: the memory card in Minh Khang's camera suddenly reported an error and could not be read, threatening to lose all the photos taken that morning.

"No, no, no," Minh Khang muttered, his hands trembling as he tried to remove and reinsert the memory card many times, his face gradually turning into real worry. "These are the most important moments of the morning, if we lose them all..."

"Calm down," Bao Nghi said, naturally placing his hand on his shoulder, then slightly startled by his own unconscious gesture, but did not withdraw his hand. "Let me see."

She carefully checked the contact tip of the memory card, gently wiped it clean with her shirt, then tried reinserting it into another slot on the device. After a few tense seconds, a series of familiar photos appeared on the screen, not a single one missing.

"Thank God," Minh Khang breathed a sigh of relief, his face relaxing. "You just saved my whole morning at work."

"It's just that the contact tip is dusty," Bao Nghi said, smiling, feeling a small joy at being able to help him in such a moment of crisis.

In the afternoon, when the sunlight begins to cool down, the area near the small lake in the middle of the school yard begins to be decorated for the lantern festival - hundreds of colorful paper lanterns are hung on strings strung across tree branches, and some students are preparing to release small flower lanterns into the lake when it gets completely dark.

Bao Nghi and Minh Khang spent the entire afternoon moving around this area, capturing the preparation process, recording the eager faces of the students hanging the lanterns, testing different shooting angles to prepare for the most important moment of the day: dusk, when the lanterns begin to be lit.

As dusk falls, the sky turns a beautiful purple-orange color, and lanterns are lit one by one, radiating a warm golden light throughout the area around the lake. Students began releasing small flower lanterns into the water, the sparkling light reflected creating a magical scene like something out of a fairy tale.

"Here it is," Bao Nghi whispered, holding up the phone, his heart beating fast with excitement at the scene before him. She moved quickly, looking for angles that captured both the light of the lantern and the radiant faces of the students releasing the lanterns, taking pictures continuously, not wanting to miss any moment.

Minh Khang, standing not far away, was also passionately working, but every now and then he glanced towards her, not to check her work, but simply to see the way she was completely immersed in the work she loved, her face radiant under the lantern light, completely different from the shy look she often showed in front of the crowd.

At one moment, when Bao Nghi bent down near the lake to take a low-angle shot, reflecting the lantern light on the gently rippling water surface, she accidentally looked up and caught Minh Khang's eyes looking at her from afar - not the eyes of a teammate at work, but the eyes of someone who is truly passionate about something, or someone.

The two stood there for a moment, not saying anything, just looking at each other across a few meters distance, the lantern light dancing around, the laughter of the students echoing everywhere like a background music for that moment. Then Minh Khang smiled, raised the camera, not towards the lake or the lantern, but straight towards her.

Bao Nghi immediately understood, shaking his head slightly, a gentle but decisive gesture. Minh Khang, true to his promise, hung up the phone immediately, without showing any signs of disappointment or pleading, just nodded and gave a thumbs up to signal "got it", before returning to continue his work.

That small gesture — instant, unflinching respect — warmed Bao Nghi's heart more than any compliment he had ever given her. She continued her work with a feeling of relief and freedom more than ever, knowing that even though she was standing among hundreds of people, she was still completely safe.

The festival ended late, when most of the students had left, only a few club members remained to collect equipment. Bao Nghi sat down on the steps near the lake, reviewed the photos he had just taken on the camera screen, and felt an unprecedented pride rising in his heart.

"Today is a wonderful day," Minh Khang said, sitting down next to her, keeping just enough distance as usual. "I think we have enough photos for at least half of the exhibition collection."

"Yes," Bao Nghi agreed, smiling and looking out at the lake where the last few flower lanterns were still floating, the light weak but persistent. "Today is one of the happiest days I've had in many years."

Minh Khang turned to look at her, his eyes filled with a gentleness that made Bao Nghi have to turn away to hide the confusion rising in her heart, even though deep down, she knew she didn't want this moment to end too soon.

Dinh Phong and Vy found their seats, each holding a stick of sugar cotton candy hastily bought from the leftover stall, plopped down on the steps next to them without asking anything, as if their presence was obvious.

"Today is so tiring, but it's worth it," Phong said, taking a big bite of sugar cotton candy, his voice still excited even though his eyes were somewhat sunken from running around all day. "I took a photo of the security guard jumping rope with a group of sixth graders. It should definitely be included in the exhibition."

"Wait and see," Vy smiled, gently pushing his shoulder. "Don't get confident too soon."

The group sat there for a while, eating sugar cotton candy while reviewing the photos on each person's camera screen, commenting, laughing, pointing out the best moments of the day. Bao Nghi realized that she was smiling more than any evening for many years, not a forced smile to blend in, but a genuine joy, coming from her heart.

"Hey, Bao Nghi," Vy called out, her voice full of excitement, "can you show me the photo you took when releasing the flower lanterns? I've been hearing Khang's compliments all this time."

Bao Nghi was a little embarrassed but still showed the camera to Vy, and when the whole group gathered around to admire the pictures she captured, she felt a silent pride creeping into her heart - even though her name had not yet appeared publicly anywhere, the people sitting next to her right now, the people she was gradually considering as true friends, saw and recognized her talent, without needing a name or title.

When the sky was completely dark, only the moonlight and the last few lanterns that had not yet completely turned off illuminated the area around the lake, the group began to pack up to leave. Minh Khang volunteered to take Bao Nghi home as usual, and on the way, the two continued to talk enthusiastically about the most memorable moments of the day, about the plan to select photos for the exhibition, and about further plans for the club's future.

"Thank you for today," Minh Khang said as they stopped in front of her house, his voice sincere. "Not just because of the amazing photos you took, but because you showed me that this club is worth fighting for, more than ever before."

"I'm the one who should thank you," Bao Nghi replied, smiling sincerely. "For patiently waiting for me long enough for me to be here today."

They stood there for a while longer, neither wanting to be the first to say goodbye, until finally Bao Nghi smiled softly, turned and walked into the gate, carrying a heart full of new emotions that she knew she would think about long after she fell asleep.